


Mistake

by Catstaff



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22781578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catstaff/pseuds/Catstaff
Summary: Written for Harmony & Co's Lyric Llama, inspired by the lyrics, “I realize, it was only just a dream, I was at the top and now its like I'm in the basement, Number one spot and now you found your own replacement I swear now that I can't take it, knowing somebody's got my baby” Just a Dream, Christina Grimmie, Sam Tsui.Hermione knows she hasn't been the best of girlfriends lately, putting work first. And then she sees Harry having lunch with another woman...
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 48
Collections: Lyric Llama





	Mistake

Stopping into the pub nearest the Ministry’s main London entrance just past noon on a hot summer Monday, Hermione Granger heaved a sigh. Her work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures came with long hours, but despite the toll it took on her social life, she was making some headway in improving the lot of both house elves and werewolves. Still, between the hours she’d been putting in, and Harry’s demanding shifts as a junior Auror, it seemed sometimes as though she hardly ever got to see her boyfriend of the last two years anymore. As it was, she hadn’t seen him in three weeks, because she’d needed to stay late at the office to put together some legal files for the department head, which meant she’d had to break a couple of dates. She felt terrible about it, of course, but she knew he’d understand. Harry’d been around for SPEW, her ill-conceived attempt to free the house elves back during their Hogwarts days. At least she understood now that it was a symbiotic relationship, they had to be bound to keep their magic strong. So he knew how much it would mean to her if they could just get this legislation passed to prevent the abuse of house elves and give them the option of choosing a new family to bind with, if their current family hurt them at all.

At least she wouldn’t have to break their date this coming weekend; the legislation was complete and ready to be presented during the next meeting of the Wizengamot. She’d checked the DMLE for Harry’s schedule and he was off on Friday evening as well, even if he did have to patrol Diagon Alley on Saturday evening. What he and his fellow junior Aurors jokingly referred to as ‘cleaning up the Leakies’ due to the patrols’ main activity of collecting those patrons who’d overindulged at the Leaky Cauldron or elsewhere, and who then proceeded to stumble about the Alley unable to apparate themselves home, and who more often than not were drunk enough to relieve themselves wherever they happened to be when they felt the urge even if they weren’t being sick, which most of them were. 

Harry didn’t mind too terribly, though, as it was one of the standard duties of junior Aurors. The-Man-Who-Conquered he might be, but he didn’t like the thought of accepting anything he hadn’t earned. Hermione approved, in all honesty, she could see that Harry got more respect for going through the training and the junior-level duties with everyone else. The only favour he’d accepted was getting into training without a Potions NEWT; he’d managed to pass the rest but given Snape’s treatment of him all through Hogwarts, there was no way Harry was going to pass that one on his first try, especially when they’d missed what should have been their seventh year. And even that favour just meant he was able to start Auror training immediately, while studying to take his Potions NEWT with a tutor during his off-hours. Otherwise he’d have had to spend a year catching up in Potions, take the NEWT, and only after passing it would he eligible to enter Auror training.

Hermione finally made it through the queue and ordered herself a chicken salad sandwich with crisps and a pint of shandy, then took her food to a small table at the back of the pub, intending to eat quickly and return to the office. But just as she started nibbling the second half of her sandwich, the door opened and Harry came inside. Hermione’s face lit and she started to wave when she realised he was holding the door for someone. For a woman. For Luna Lovegood, to be exact. Hermione froze.

Completely unaware that Hermione was sitting on the other side of the pub, Harry ordered a fish and chips with a pint of dark while Luna just wanted cider and a salad. “This means a lot to me you know, Luna,” he said to the young blonde woman. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

Luna’s musical laughter filled the air. “Really, Harry? I’m sure you would be all right on your own.”

“Well, maybe I would,” he conceded, “but it’ll be much, much easier with the help. I’m glad you’re here for me.”

“Anytime, Harry, you’ve always been one of my best friends,” Luna said, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand.

From her vantage point, Hermione couldn’t hear their words, but… Harry was smiling at Luna, smiling and holding her hand! Could she have been mistaken? Could Harry have taken those broken dates as a sign she wanted to break up with him? For that matter, did he want to break up with her, was that why he hadn’t seemed to care when she’d let him know she had to work late? Did he consider the broken dates a break-up, was that why he was already out with Luna on his arm? She set down her sandwich, feeling suddenly sick, and sent a patronus message to her supervisor that she was taking the afternoon off as she thought the food she’d eaten might have gone off in the heat. She continued to watch the oblivious couple on the other side of the pub. Harry seemed to be describing something at length, to which Luna smiled and nodded, occasionally asking a soft question. One of those questions elicited an answer which produced a happy squeal from the blonde woman, followed by a hug and kiss on Harry’s cheek. 

Hermione felt as though she couldn’t breathe, certain Harry had just asked Luna to be his girlfriend in her place. Fighting tears, she almost missed them leaving, but saw just in time to follow them out the door at a fair distance. She knew better than most just how well Harry had learned old Moody’s ‘Constant Vigilance!’ mantra. To her utter dismay, the couple turned into a jewelry store. A jewelry store! Hermione burst into tears and hurried away. As soon as she was out of sight of the street, hiding between the skips behind the shops, she apparated home, crawled into bed, and cried herself to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*

Within the jewelry store and completely unaware that Hermione had been anywhere within a mile of him, Harry grinned at Luna. “So, is it the blibbering humdingers or the flittering rowerbazzles that help you to help me pick the ring Hermione will like best?” he teased.

Luna giggled. “Actually, it’s the glittering flootsnoofs. I’m just glad the wrackspurts finally left you alone. I think there might still be some hanging around Hermione, though.”

“Probably because she’s been working so hard,” Harry said. “She’s been determined to have the house elf protection legislation ready to present to the Wizengamot. While she understands now that she can’t just free them all, she does have a point that there needs to be a way to keep them from being abused by the people who ought to be responsible for their wellbeing. Do you think she’d like this one?” he asked, pointing to a ring with a trio of marquise-cut diamonds.

Luna considered it. “Maybe, but it seems a little too… hm. Not gaudy, exactly, because it isn’t gaudy, but too fussy, maybe? It’s lovely, but not something I can picture Hermione wearing. That’s a ring for someone who expects her hand to be kissed rather than shaken. Look for something with a round stone for Hermione. Maybe like that one?” She pointed to a large diamond solitaire.

“It’s pretty,” Harry said, “but too generic. Everyone and his brother gets his girl a diamond solitaire for an engagement ring. I want something a little more personal.”

The two perused the rings for a few more minutes when Luna exclaimed, “Harry! I think I found the perfect one for you! Come look!”

Harry looked. The slender gold ring itself was fashioned to give the effect of a vine or perhaps a tree; similar, he thought, to the delicate carving on Hermione’s wand. The center stone was a round diamond solitare, but four small leaf-shaped emeralds were set two on each side of the diamond. 

“The emeralds match your eyes, Harry,” Luna said.

That gave him an idea, so he signaled to the jeweler. “Can you get those chocolate diamonds I’ve been hearing advertised lately?” he asked. “I’ve seen some pictures, and the darker ones rather match my lady’s eyes. If possible, I’d like two of the emeralds replaced with two of those, so the little leaves will match her eyes as well as mine,” he explained. “Cost isn’t an issue, but I’d like it done by Friday if at all possible.”

The jeweler looked as if he’d just been told he’d won a trip around the world. “Absolutely, sir, we can have it ready by Friday noon at the latest. Shall we start the paperwork for the purchase?”

“Please,” Harry said with a smile. He filled out several forms for the customisation of the ring, another for a warranty on the stones and the workmanship, and finally paid a fifty percent deposit. Still smiling, he escorted Luna out of the shop and to a secluded place where they apparated away, him back to the DMLE offices and her to the Quibbler building.

*~*~*~*~*

Hermione managed to drag herself into work on Tuesday, looking as horrible as she felt, but as word had gone ‘round that she’d had stomach issues the previous afternoon, her coworkers did their best to keep her workload light and to keep her supplied with tea and soda crackers. Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday, while Thursday brought a note from Harry, reminding her of their dinner date the next day.

The sight of Harry’s messy scrawl nearly had Hermione in tears once more, but she refused to cry in the office. Besides, she owed it to him to let him break up in person, especially as it seemed he’d been wanting to do so for some time now and only hadn’t done because she’d broken their dates due to work. So she just took a deep breath, scribbled off a quick confirmation, and buried herself in the minutiae of her job.

She managed to get through the workday on Friday and headed home to get ready for the evening, torn between doing herself up as carefully as she had done for the Yule Ball back in fourth year – to show Harry just what he would be giving up – and making no effort on her appearance at all as her depression over the coming breakup nearly overwhelmed her. In the end, she put in the usual effort for a date, neither going full out nor doing nothing with herself. The only concession she made to her current state of mind was to choose a dress that had been a gift from Ginny Weasley and that she hated the colour of – it looked nice on her, but it reminded her a little too much of the colour of the room in which Bellatrix had tortured her back during the war. This way, as the dress would be forever linked in her mind with the breakup, she wouldn’t feel as badly about donating it to a thrift shop afterwards.

She thought Harry looked particularly handsome when he came to pick her up that evening and wondered if that was because she knew she’d lost him through her own actions, or if he’d made an extra effort for reasons of his own. She thought it might have been the latter, as he also seemed to be making more of an effort than usual at keeping the conversation going.

For his part, Harry guessed from the subdued response that Hermione had had a rough day at work and resolved to try to cheer her up with stories of mishaps from his own work. He kept up the light and amusing stories as they drove out of London to Southend-on-Sea and to a little bistro there that he knew Hermione enjoyed.

He frowned a bit, though, when none of his sillier tales garnered much of a reaction from her. As they finished up their entrees, he talked about the time a subcontractor hired to trail and photograph the young wife of a politician who was convinced she was cheating on him. Not only had the lady proven completely innocent, the subcontractor had stopped in at his own office during the day to pick up some forgotten item and found the politician in flagrante with his own wife who worked as his administrative assistant!

To his distress and bewilderment, Hermione started to cry. He immediately left his seat and knelt by her chair to try to comfort her. “What’s wrong, love?” he asked. “Did something happen at work? Tell me, maybe I can help.”

She sniffled. “I… you don’t have to pretend anymore, you know. I know I’ve been horrible these last few weeks. It’s no more than I deserve. It’s okay, you might as well just say it out loud and get it over with. Please?”

Now Harry looked baffled. “Why are you acting like I’m about to dump you?” he asked her.

“You… you’re not?” Hermione’s voice filled with wonder. “But… I thought… you and Luna…”

“What’s Luna got to do with anything? Aside from being a friend of ours, that is,” Harry said. “Oh, and she’s also the only reporter I actually trust.”

“I… Monday, though. I saw you together, in the pub. She hugged and kissed you, and then you went to the jewelry store together,” Hermione said in a small voice. “And I’ve been a terrible girlfriend, breaking dates to work. I don’t blame you for finding someone else, you know.”

Understanding dawned on Harry’s face. “Ah, I see. Well, I did take Luna to lunch on Monday, but only because I wanted her help with a very special project of mine, and I gave her a bit of an exclusive interview at the same time. That’s why she hugged me and kissed my cheek, to thank me for giving her the scoop for next week’s Quibbler.”

Hermione felt like an idiot. “Oh, gods, and I assumed… I’d been feeling so guilty for breaking two dates in a row and I was sure you were only waiting to dump me face-to-face, because you’re too nice to do it through the post.”

Harry chuckled warmly. “Hermione, love, we all make mistakes. I should have let you know I needed Luna’s help, and then you wouldn’t have been beating yourself up over having seen us together like that and thinking I wanted to date her.”

“What did you need her help for, anyway?” Hermione asked, curiosity getting the better of her. “I mean, I know I’ve been busy, but you never even asked me to help with anything.”

“I needed her to help me pick out something for you, so of course I couldn’t ask you to help,” Harry said with a grin. Remaining on his knees, he pulled the ring box from his pocket. “And now that you’re satisfied that I’m not breaking up with you, I’d like to ask you to do me the supreme honour of becoming my wife. Will you marry me, Hermione?” He flipped open the lid, revealing the clear diamond flanked by the little green and brown gemstone leaves.

Hermione gasped. “I… oh… yes! Oh, Harry!” 

She threw herself at him, kissing him soundly before slipping back to her seat and holding up her hand for him to slide the ring onto the appropriate finger. Only then did she become aware of applause from the other patrons in the bistro, along with the bottle of champagne and two plates of tiramisu that had mysteriously found their way to the table while her attention was on Harry. She blushed as the maître ‘d called for a toast to the newly-engaged couple.

Later that evening, as they drove back to London with the rest of the champagne to continue celebrating their engagement in a more private setting, Hermione leaned her head on Harry’s shoulder with a soft smile. Her week had turned from her worst nightmare into her best dream come true.

**Author's Note:**

> The engagement ring can be seen at the web address below, only picture two of the emeralds as chocolate diamonds instead. 
> 
> https://www.brilliantearth.com/rings/cyorings/purchase_review/?did=5977748&sid=2191352&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PLA&utm_content=BE104LCE-14KR-1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkKnyBRDwARIsALtxe7jwLZqepETiPHEpWNJgeLnLlowOkck4OdJeMSm1HX6NMy1wVFbSeDgaApHoEALw_wcB


End file.
